Second Sight
Second Sight is an action-adventure third-person shooter developed by Free Radical Design and published by Codemasters. It was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube and in 2005 for Windows. Plot John Vattic is brought into a secure medical facility, where he wakes up in a secure chamber bound to his bed. Vattic is then freed from the cuff links from nobody and escapes from the chamber from he is in when he discovers he has telekinesis. On the way out of the patient rooms, he also discovers that he has a healing ability. When he escapes into the elevator, he has a flashback, where he was the advisory for a group of U.S. Marines, codenamed WinterICE and a psychic named Jayne Wilde that were to be deployed in Siberia in search of a Russian scientist named Victor Grienko. He then awakens and travels throughout the medical facility and searches Jayne Wilde's name in the database, learning that she was killed. He is then brought into another flashback where WinterICE was deployed in Siberia. Jayne Wilde begins to run into a building, where Vattic saves her. When he is brought back to the present, he learns that when he saved Jayne on the mission, the computer now says that she is alive and in a Vermont asylum. Vattic takes Jayne out of the asylum where she states that WinterICE's commanding officer, Colonel Joshua Starke, died on the mission in Siberia. When Vattic is brought back to the past again, he learns that Grienko is keeping children as test subjects to give them psychic abilities. One of the children appear in a projection and awakens Vattic's psychic abilities. He is also able to rescue Colonel Starke. Back in the present, Jayne informs Vattic that Starke is living in an apartment in Queens, New York and investigates the address given to him by Jayne. When Vattic arrives at the destination, Starke is surprised to see him and states the rest of WinterICE had died on the mission. Through a series of flashbacks, Vattic saves each member of WinterICE and reaches the village of Dubrensk in Siberia. Soldiers have killed most of the people in the village, however, one survivor informs WinterICE that should the team head in, the children would become scared, but if Vattic went in, they would accept him for his similar powers. Vattic then infiltrates the village of Dubrensk in the past and the headquarters of the National Security Executive (NSE) based on the evidence that Starke gave him in the present. In the past, he discovers that the director of the NSE, Hanson, had wanted to create an army of psychic super soldiers using Grienko's project. WinterICE was sent in to discover Grienko's lab, dispatch anyone who got in the way and secure Grienko's work for Hanson. Vattic confronts Hanson in the present and is ready to kill him when Vattic discovers that Jayne was taken hostage by the NSE. With a no-win situation, Vattic intends to change the past again using his current knowledge of Hanson's plans. In the flashbacks, Vattic learns that Grienko is ready for transport into America. Grienko and his staff believe that they will be relocated, however, the real orders are to kill Grienko and the staff once they are ready for transport. Grienko is killed according to plan, however, Vattic infiltrates the lower levels to save the children. The flashback is interrupted many times, showing the various outcomes in the present that Vattic has prevented, however, Vattic soon learns that he has not been heading into the past. The WinterICE mission, however, is still ongoing and incomplete and Vattic has actually been using his final ability, precognition, to see many multiple futures. As Vattic reaches the lowest level, Hanson once again places him in a no-win situation again, as Hanson is taunting him from behind a psychic-proof and bulletproof window. To aid Vattic, he releases the test subjects. The children use their powerful psychic abilities to break the frame of the glass and the test subjects that suffered mutations show up and kill Hanson. WinterICE and other U.S. Army troops raid the facility. Starke and Jayne escort Vattic to a helicopter and Jayne explains to him why he was so important to the mission. Gameplay Psychic abilities are allow Vattic to manipulate many things in his environment. Vattic can throw objects at enemies, or once upgraded, pick up the enemies himself. He can also use psychic balls to damage his enemies, in place of other weapons. Vattic's projection ability allows him to enter locations without his physical self leaving the area it was left, or once upgraded, allow him to possess his enemies. There are also standard guns, such as pistols and sub-machine guns that can be used. There is also a stealth element, where if Vattic is discovered more guards begin to show up and will only resume their posts if Vattic has hidden himself and is not found by the guards. Reception Second Sight received fairly positive reviews, averaging at 70%, 78% and 79% on GameRankings on the Windows PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2 respectively. On Metacritic, it received a 73/100, 75/100 and 76/100 on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2 respectively. Second Sight was praised on numerous sites for its slick graphics, varied environments and good voice acting. Gamespot reviewer Brad Shoemaker noted that it had an "intriguing storyline, nice variety of guns and psychic powers and stylized characters". Category:Games released on the PlayStation 2 Category:Games released on the Nintendo GameCube Category:Games released on the Xbox Category:Games released for PC Category:Games released in 2004 Category:Games that are rated T